I believe this is the next to last chapter of this story you all! I am finally going to FINISH a story, omg!

Here we go!

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"Are you positive she was kidnapped, Kuwabara? I mean, you sure she didn't just see someone she knew and is spending some time with them? Or maybe Hiei showed up and she's out with him somewhere." Yusuke asked from his spot where he was perched on the top of the desk. Kuwabara sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands looking miserable. He was too angry and too scared to even speak and his mind was swirling with questions and doubts.

What was that thing? What did it want from him? Why did it take her?

He was raging inside at the injustice of it all. After all his hard work to win Yukina's heart and finally gaining Hiei's acceptance and his future finally falling into place...and now she was gone, just like that and he had no clue how to get her back or where to even begin trying! The more he pondered and came up empty, the more his energy flared up and soon he was totally surrounded by bright golden rays of it.

Yusuke suddenly jumped off the desk and pointed wildly at his friend.

"Whoa! What the hell is this? That...that's...it feels just like Sensui's energy!" he shrieked.

Kuwabara didn't answer, he just growled and stood up quickly, his hands balled into fists at his side as he glared daggers at the floor. Items began to lift off his desk and shelves, floating several inches from their resting surfaces. Yusuke looked around the room in shock and awe as things began to swirl around the vicinity. Kuwabara's anger was building and building until he finally let out a loud and strangled roar of a yell that was a strange mix of Yukina's name of a growl. The entire room flashed bright golden and Yusuke was knocked right on his ass, then it faded away and all the items in the room dropped around them.

Yusuke stood shakily to his feet.

"H-hey, man, calm down, ok?" he said a bit nervously, "We'll find her, I promise."

But Kuwabara didn't answer, he was sitting back on the edge of the bed with his shoulders hunched and his head hung so Yusuke sat down next to him and paced a hand on his shoulder in comfort. But Kuwabara just slowly began to lean to the side and then he collapsed into the pile of homework on his bed, totally passed out from the energy expenditure.

Yusuke shook his head with and studied his friend carefully. When the hell had he obtained the Sacred Energy?!

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"He's still upstairs, passed out like my mom after a bender," Yusuke announced as he opened the door to find the rest of the gang on the doorstep, "The energy in here was crazy powerful...I had no idea he'd gotten this strong!"

They all wandered into the living room and sat down on the couches, Keiko crossed her hands over her lap and sighed unhappily.

"Poor Kuwabara. He must be out of his mind with worry."

Shizuru nodded and blew out a smoke ring.

"I've never seen him quite like this," she admitted.

"We showed her picture around the area, no one had seen her," Kurama announced, tossing the picture they used on the coffee table, "The store owner said she'd never been there at all today. Botan didn't see her anywhere around town either from aerial view."

Botan shook her head sadly and then shoved her face in her hands.

"She's just gone. Like, vanished! I don't know where to even begin looking!" she whined.

"I would go as far to say she's not vanished," Kurama said thoughtfully, "I am more of a mind to believe it was meant to look that way purposely."

Everyone looked confused.

"On purpose?" Keiko asked, voicing everyone's thought.

"Kuwabara said that it was a dark figure with red eyes," Kurama explained, "And the fact that we can't sense her spirit energy in this town makes me think...she's in Demon World."

"But Koenma and I contacted Mokuro and the Yomi and they say nothing has turned up on her there either," Botan said quietly.

Kurama looked at Botan with an odd expression.

"That makes me think...maybe they are repressing her spirit energy, we know it's possible with the ward Tarukane used and they took her to Demon World where their own energy would be stronger and Koenma has no control there. But...why two days? According to Kuwabara's vision the limit to find her is two days. And, also, why do they want her?"

"She produces Hiruseki stones," Yusuke shrugged, "That's what they took her for in the first place. Those things are worth a ton of cash!"

"It doesn't matter WHY she was taken," Shizuru snapped, "What matters is where."

"We don't have much time to be speculating, you're right," Kurama sighed in agreement, "The main thing is to get her back alive."

"Where is Hiei?" Botan asked suddenly, looking around as if the small demon would simply appear out of thin air, "Shouldn't he have been here by now?"

"He was sent on a mission by Mukuro," Kurama informed her, "But she's sent a message to him so he should be here very soon...and I think he'll probably come down pretty hard on Kuwabara when he does get here."

Yusuke stood up quickly and started pacing around the room.

"I just have one question," he whined, "HOW did Kuwabara get so damn strong all of the sudden? Where did he get that Scared Energy?!"

Kurama sighed and rolled his eyes, pulling Yusuke down on the couch to explain the finer points of power attainment and human vs. demon energy.

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Kuwabara blinked slowly as he came to from his faint, looking around the room he suddenly remembered he was alone...and why he was alone.

"Yukina..." he said sadly as he sat up and rubbed his eyes, his energy began to flow out again as his mind filled with images of her smile, her hair flowing in the breeze and that adorable little way she cocked her head when she was curious about something, and memories of her giggles and voice.

And suddenly those memories turned to real sounds, he could actually hear someone's voice...someone crying.

"Kazuma. I know you'll find me...but I'm so scared. Please...please hurry."

Kuwabara sat straight up to attention and his eyes went wide. He knew that voice!

"Yukina? Yukina is that you? Where are you?"

A minute or two passed in silence and he forced his energy to focus completely on her distress call, finally it came to him again, barely a whisper.

"K-Kazuma? You can hear me?"

"Baby, don't waste words. Where are you? Do you know who took you? Are you alright?"

"Th-there were two of them," Yukina's whisper was like a cool breeze over his mind and he closed his eyes to focus on it more closely, "They came up behind me and hit me in the back of my head."

"Are you hurt, Yukina?" he repeated his former question again.

"No, I'm not hurt," she assured him quickly, "I'm locked away somewhere...all I know is this has something to do with Hiei...but I didn't hear what."

He was relieved to know she was unharmed at least, it wasn't much but it was something.

"Do you know where you are? Everyone is here and we're going to come for you. Give us some clues!"

All...all I can remember was a tunnel, an underground tunnel...the rest is fuzzy...I know I'm in Demon World and it's a tiny room with a red door..."

Silence and then a sniffling sob.

"I don't know how to get out of here...I'm so scared, Kazuma!"

He felt his energy begin to weaken from the intense use and he sense her begin to tense with fear as their connection weakened. He put one more large amount of effort into the connection and sent a soothing wave to her mind...he was glad to know it worked when she sighed and relaxed.

"Yukina, I promise we will come for you. I will come for you. We'll be there before the deadline and no one will hurt you...never again! I should have gone with you earlier, I am so sorry!"

"Please...don't apologize, Kazuma. From the way it sounds, they are after Hiei...they only used me to get to him. They would have gotten me eventually so don't put this on your shoulders."

Kuwabara heard a voice that sounded faint through the distant connection.

"Master Kikou says it's dinnertime, sweetcheeks."

A little flit of panic came over Yukina's mind. "Kazuma, I have to go, they're coming in. Please...stay safe. I love you!"

And, just like that, the connection was done.

Kazuma was breathing a little bit easier now that he knew she was alive and relatively safe...but he was furious as well. How could Hiei possibly tell him he was bad for Yukina when her own brother couldn't protect her from his past?

His eyes were filled with determined anger, but his heart was filled with love and faith that he would rescue her...and he vowed she would be back in his arms in twenty four hours. Fuck two days!

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Two hours later, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama were dropped off in Demon World. Botan insisted they use the Spirit Communicators while they were on the mission to keep them all informed back in Spirit World where the girls waited with Koenma for updates.

As they walked, Yusuke stretched and yawned. "Man, I miss it here sometimes."

"Oh yeah? Old memories?" Kurama teased.

"Something like that," Yusuke said with a grin, "But I think I'd go with nightmares, not memories."

Kuwabara glared at the pair over his shoulder. "Come on, you guys, this is no time for joking around! Yukina needs us!"

"He is so whipped..." Yusuke commented as Kuwabara ran ahead at full speed, forcing the two demons to up their pace to follow him.

"Would you act differently if this was Keiko we were rescuing?" Kurama asked, shrewdly.

Yusuke pouted thoughtfully for a moment but then nodded in agreement.

"So...he can sense emotions now? AND hear voices?"

"Kuwabara is now officially the strongest human in all three worlds," Kurama informed his friend, "His strength comes from Yukina and his strong sense of resolve. Love is an amazing source of power."

The fox demon looked up ahead at his tall friend's back and smiled, whispering his next words for himself and not Yusuke's benefit:

"Something he taught me much about."

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After a while, Kuwabara's energy search led them to an empty desert. About halfway into it, they came to the mouth of a cave that appeared to lead into a tunnel.

"Are caves all the rage these days or something?" Yusuke groaned, "I HATE caves and lately all our battles seem to be underground."

"It's always a good place to hide," Kurama stated unhappily, "Especially for demons since purchasin a hideout and paying off guards and higher-ups is expensive. This tell us these guys are probably mere thugs and not high level criminals."

The entry to the cave was dark and musty and Kuwabara thought the smell that wafted out of it smelled like a morgue...it was a very off-putting scent, but it didn't change his resolve as he ducked down and went inside. All that mattered was finding Yukina! He sent his energy out again, seeking confirmation that this was the right place, his heart jumped when he felt her presence very close.

"Kazuma! You're here!" her voice filled his mind.

"I told you I would be, baby! Yusuke and Kurama are with me...I'm coming, my love. You'll be safe soon!"

Yukina seemed to relax slightly at his words but she remained vigilant.

"I will see you soon, Kazuma. I must go, I hear a guard coming. Be safe!"

"Is she in here?" Yusuke asked, approaching his friend carefully from behind.

"Yes," Kazuma smiled genuinely for the first time in hours, "She's in there still and she's safe. I sensed two guards in there, relatively strong but nothing too exciting. We'll take them easily."

At that moment, a black flash flitted across their vision and they turned their heads to see Hiei standing next to them, looking furious and deadly.

"Nice of you to finally show up," Yusuke commented snarkily.

Hiei was not in the mood. He pointed an accusing finger up at Kuwabara and glared.

"You. Come with me."

Kuwabara sighed and followed the demon a few feet away from the others. Hiei spun around and hissed loudly, but Kazuma merely raised an eyebrow, not in the mood for Hiei's crap.

"You were supposed to take care of her! You promised! I should have known better, give you a tiny bit of trust and you throw it right out the window!" Hiei snapped.

"Oh shut your annoying word hole, Hiei!" Kazuma was fed up with Hiei's accusations...this was his fault after all! "You know she's alive down there and we do NOT have time to be arguing with eachother when we have a rescue to carry out! And, just so you know, she was taken for something YOU did! They're using her to get to you! So why don't you enlighten us all to what you possibly could have done to piss these people off enough to kidnap your sister as ransom for you!"

Hiei's hand went to his sword. "You are a fool! You dim witted human! I hate humans, all you're worth is..."

What humans were worth, Kazuma never heard because his fist connected to the demon's face and sent him flying back several feet, landing heavily right on his back, knocking the wind out of his lungs. Hiei was stunned! He'd never felt such an effective punch...not from a human! This punch carried with it all the strength of Kuwabara's heart.

"You...you were supposed to protect her," Hiei gasped as he sat up again.

"She's not as weak and frail as you think, Hiei!" Kazuma replied grimly, "I can't be at her side twenty four hours a day, Hiei. I CAN promise that I will always be there to bring her home again. What bothers me if that she's been taken because of YOU, not me! Humans this, humans that, you always talk us down like we're the stupid ones...but right now, this human is going to go in there and rescue your sister, my girlfriend, and nothing is getting in my way! Not even you!"

Kazuma turned on his heel and headed for the tunnel entrance again, passing Kuram who was smiling and Yusuke who was smirking, and they followed right behind him. Behind them, Hiei stood up and licked the blood from his split lip off, a grim smile spread over his face.

"An impressive display, Kuwabara," he muttered to himself, "You've come a long way..."

Casting his doubts aside, Hiei followed Kazuma's lead, making his way into the tunnel to rescue his sister.

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BOOM! This is coming along!

One more chapter, folks! See you there!